Falcons Edged by Navy at All-Academy Championships

FORT WORTH,Texas -- The 12th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team finished second at the All-Academy Championships this evening (Feb. 13) in Fort Worth, totaling a season-high 310.100 to finish just 0.050 behind ninth-ranked Navy at the annual triangular between the three service academies.

Backed by a pair of titles from sophomore Jack Thomas Foltyn, Air Force earned first-place marks on four of the six events. Foltyn tallied a 13.150 – a new event-high for the Falcons at the All-Academy Championships – to win the still rings and lead Air Force to a 1-2 finish on that event, before adding a 13.500 to capture first-place honors on the parallel bars. Senior team captains Sam Brown and Tai Gopaul picked up first-place honors on the pommel horse (14.300) and high bar (13.350), respectively, while setting new AAC-best marks for the Falcons during their last academy triangular.

Sophomore Jared Fry, the meet's lone all-around competitor (78.700), led Air Force on the vault (13.700, third) and was the Falcons' No. 2 scorer on the still rings (12.900, second), parallel bars (13.250, third) and high bar (13.200, third).

Senior Jack Matlock posted the second-highest pommel horse score of the night with a 13.800, while Gopaul, who rounded out the Falcons' list of event leaders with a sixth-place score of 13.250 on the floor exercise, earned fourth-place finishes on the still rings (12.750) and parallel bars (13.050). Freshman Isaac Koo added a fourth-place high bar score of 12.700 and Foltyn accounted for one more top-five finish with a 13.650 on the vault (fifth).

Air Force, who posted meet-leading marks on the pommel horse (53.400), still rings (51.200), parallel bars (50.450) and high bar (49.950), improved its season total by nearly seven points for the 310.100 finish at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The 310.150-310.100 separation between No. 9 Navy and No. 12 Air Force is the closest 1-2 finish at the All-Academy Championships since 2006, when another 0.050-point difference separated Army and Navy. The Falcons and Mids distanced themselves from the 13th-ranked Black Knights, who finished third with a 301.600.

Despite this year's narrow runner-up finish, Air Force still holds a sizable advantage over its service academy counterparts in terms of team titles at the All-Academy Championships. The Falcons have accounted for 12 titles since 2000, while the Midshipmen and Black Knights both have seven, with one meet being canceled due to weather.

The Falcons return to the Academy on Saturday, Feb. 28, when they host the Rocky Mountain Mavericks on Senior Day at 4:00 p.m. (MT).

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